NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Russell Westbrook's Potential Move to Heat
With Paul George headed to the Los Angeles Clippers and a bevy of first-round picks accompanying Shai Gilgeous-Alexander en route to Oklahoma City, the Thunder seem poised to move on from Russell Westbrook and into a rebuild.
As reported by Adrian Wojnarowski, Westbrook and the Thunder front office are indeed seeking out a trade partner—and the most interested party appears to be the Miami Heat.
By trading George and Jerami Grant, the Thunder now have, barring certain protections, 11 first-round picks and the rights to two first-round pick swaps over the next seven years.
That's in addition to Gilgeous-Alexander, who, as a 20-year-old rookie last season, averaged 26.5 minutes and showed tremendous flashes in an impressive playoff run for the Clippers.
The logic behind moving on from Westbrook, who is owed $171,139,920 over the next four years, is obvious for a team that just lost George after suffering a first-round exit from the playoffs.
Westbrook, on the other hand, wants and deserves to play for a contender. The 11-year vet has averaged 23.0 points, 8.4 assists and 7.0 rebounds throughout his career. Last year, at 30 years old, the eight-time All-Star and former MVP averaged a triple-double for a third consecutive season.
Having already committed to working on his jump shot after leading the league in assists the past two years, Westbrook's blend of flash, dedication and talent is appealing to Miami. But the money isn't right, and the moving pieces are unclear, although it's possible that Heat rookie Tyler Herro gets involved—as Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler noted.
While there has been no indication that Herro is central to the trade (and Kyler has clarified the delay in Herro's signing is simply so Miami can "stay flexible"), his fit in OKC is palpable.
The gunner averaged 14.0 points in one season at Kentucky and has already averaged 20.4 points per game across five Summer League contests. Regardless, his salary-cap impact is negligible, given an expected first-round rookie contract at around $15 million over four years, so other assets are more critical to the deal.
Heat players like Goran Dragic ($19.2 million), James Johnson ($15.3 million), Justise Winslow ($13.0 million), Kelly Olynyk ($12.7 million), Dion Waiters ($12.1 million) and Meyers Leonard ($11.3 million) are all owed substantial money in 2019-20. Miami has some work to do and some pieces to move around if they want to pair Westbrook with Jimmy Butler, and doing so won't be easy.
With the Grant trade, the Thunder moved up a big contract and are now just $1.5 million above the luxury tax line. This means Oklahoma City's cap situation can't be as easily leveraged as it could be before. Although Westbrook's contract is bloated (he's set to make $47 million in its final year, at 34 years old), he's a dynamic superstar who should fetch a solid return.
Pairing Herro with Gilgeous-Alexander should appeal to the Thunder, but they'll likely want more sweeteners. First, though, the Heat might need to get another team to take on some contracts if they want to bring Westbrook's talents to South Beach.
